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Friday, January 11, 2008
That’s Alotta Mashed Taters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s how comedian Patton Oswalt weighs in on KFC’s Famous Bowl:
Have you ever eaten one of these? Are they even available in Atlanta area KFC’s? What do you think? From the sound of it, I think I would flee to the mountains if I had to eat one…
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Nuevo Laredo Cantina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s print review of Nuevo Laredo Cantina has resulted in lots of emails my way — many agree with me; many don’t. This passionate story, sent to me by reader Riley O’Connor in Brookhaven, was something I just had to share. He’s obviously an Irishman who knows his Mexican food…
“Well, if you were looking for controversy, I’m sure that your review of Nuevo Laredo in today’s AJC will fill the bill. With the exception of the sugar-in-the-cornbread discussion, it doesn’t come much more passionate than that. So…..
When I was a kid, we lived in Brownsville, Texas, which I believe gives me the credentials to at least talk about this subject. At that time, there were two Mexican restaurants that my parents favored. One, in a tony downtown location, was very elegant and the dinner conversation amongst the adults almost always used to drift over to the matter of the ownership, both men, who were living together. Zippy stuff for the 1950’s. The other was a joint out on the edge of town that featured the requisite neon framed windows, etc.
Going across the border into Matamoros was always a treat, with places like the American Bar, Las Piedras Negras and others. Piedras Negras had gabrito splayed out in the front window, slowly grilling until the Yanquis arrived. American Bar was red hot, simply because that’s what people from the U.S. expected. I vividly remember on a Saturday night, standing on the town square with my parents, watching the young people walking around the plaza; the young men walked in one direction and the young ladies (and their Mamas and Tias) walked in the opposite direction. Afterward, we were walking down the darkened streets and came upon a bright light shining out from a building. Inside was a corn tortilla “manufacturing facility”; it was little more that an unfinished building, with bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. In one corner, a woman fed corn kernels and water into a electrically powered mill while other women would take the ground corn and make tortillas, flop them onto a gas heated griddle and make the staple food of the country. You bought them for a few cents, wrapped in wax paper and redolent of fresh cooked corn. When you went further into Mexico, either to Veracruz, Reynosa or Victoria, the food heat calmed down very quickly.”
What a memory. Thanks for sharing, Riley.
What’ your take on Nuevo Laredo Cantina?
Where’s your favorite Mexican in the Atlanta area?
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